. >> let's talk about the negotiations themselves. president obama put out his plan. the republicans rejected it. the republicans put out a plan yesterday, and the president rejected it. what should we make of this? >> reporter: well, right now it shows at least publicly both sides are fully entrenched in not wanting to budge on some very specific issues. the president wanting taxes to go up on wealthy americans, those extension only for middle class americans. republicans saying no way at all, and beyond that while they might have some agreement on other issues, those remain the sticking points. i did hear from an administration official a short time ago who told me no update whatsoever when i asked whether or not there would be some counteroffer, i guess, the counteroffer from republicans. so that remains the big sticking point, and it appears that until there's some movement on that, there really won't be an agreement. >> and before you go, i understand speaker boehner and the president were at a holiday reception and, well, what happened? >> well, you know, as you